May 3, 2011 4:41pm EDTMay 3, 2011 4:29pm EDTNFL teams showed how much they are emphasizing pro-style skill sets in this year's draft, with over half of the offensive skill players coming from school that run pro-style offenses, writes Vinnie Iyer.

Entering the 2010 college season, there were 41 Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly Division I) teams that ran pro-style offenses. Not surprisingly, offensive skill players from those NFL-tailored preparatory programs made up the majority of the combined quarterbacks, running backs, wide receivers and tight ends selected during the weekend's 2011 draft.

Of the 82 FBS prospects from those four positions who were drafted, 47 (57 percent) came from pro-style systems. Leading the way was North Carolina, coached by former Cleveland Browns coach Butch Davis, with quarterback T.J. Yates, running back Johnny White, wide receiver Greg Little and tight end Ryan Taylor all being taken.

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That total of 47 also doesn't include players from non-FBS schools drafted or those who came from multiple-look offensive systems that still heavily use the pro style.

With the NFL's labor impasse leading to an abbreviated learning curve for rookies, a pro-style background is a plus. As rookies get a crash course in absorbing an NFL playbook, it will be a big asset, even with different terminology, for so many players to be familiar with certain passing, route-running and blocking concepts.

At running back, the position regarded as having the easiest transition to the NFL, 15 of the 29 draftees came from a pro-style BCS school. Notables joining White were the Saints' Mark Ingram (Alabama), the Cardinals' Ryan Williams (Virginia Tech) and the Lions' Mikel Leshoure (Illinois), the consensus top three backs in the draft.